Posts Tagged ‘fertilizer’

“Chicken manure fertilizer is very high in nitrogen and also contains a good amount of potassium and phosphorus. The high nitrogen and balanced nutrients is the reason that chicken manure compost is the best kind of manure to use. Chicken manure for vegetable garden fertilizing will produce excellent soil for your vegetables to grow in. You will find that your vegetables will grow bigger and healthier as a result of using chicken manure fertilizer. Tomatoes, asparagus, cabbage and watermelons are examples of heavy feeders which may greatly benefit from some extra nitrogen.”

Chicken manure is a source of nitrogen that is useful for your plants because it helps promote green, leafy growth. It is commercially available in composted form, but some gardeners have access to uncomposted or fresh chicken manure as well. Composted chicken manure is often safer to use in your garden, but uncomposted chicken manure also has its uses.

Fresh versus Composted

If you have access to fresh chicken manure, it can be applied in the spring to plants requiring high levels of nitrogen. However, uncomposted chicken manure may contain bacteria and pathogens that are harmful to humans, such as salmonella and E. coli. While these aren’t usually taken up by the plants, they stick to the roots and plant surfaces which can be risky when growing edible plants such as vegetables. Cooking will effectively kill most pathogens carried on garden crops, but avoiding the use of fresh manure minimizes the risk of illness, particularly on crops such as lettuce or fruits, which aren’t usually cooked before being consumed. Even composted manure can contain some pathogens, although not in as high levels as uncomposted. Dried and processed chicken manures are available commercially as pellets and powders. These products pose less risk because they’ve been sterilized during manufacturing.